Charlie McArthur (Comprehensive Gerosha)
Charlie McArthur is a minor character in the Gerosha universe of The Gerosha Chronicles in Dozerfleet Comics. He is the biological son of Darrin and Martha Wortell, and the adoptive son of Candi and Donte McArthur. His brothers include Frank and John. He has a sister in Dana and a half-sister in Angie Levens. He was first referenced as existing in the 2009 version of Ciem 2, and was to feature prominently in Ciem 3 before it was canceled. He was later to be either referenced or depicted in all of the Ciem novel trilogy, beginning with Ciem: Vigilante Centipede. He was also to be a major character in Ciem Tomorrow. As of the Cataclysmic Gerosha timeline, he is no longer canon. The series Sodality eliminates Candi and Donte's concerns with him as a sub-plot, instead having Candi's first child with Donte be Frank. Character bio ''Ciem: Vigilante Centipede'' Main article: Ciem: Vigilante Centipede Little is known of Charlie's early life, except that his father went off to war alongside Donte. Donte was good friends with the Wortells, though they were never actually shown on screen in the Ciem webcomic trilogy. Ciem: Vigilante Centipede would have been the first appearance for Darrin Wortell. However, that novel's cancellation removed what would have been his first and only appearance in an Ciem-related media. Before dying, Darrin made a promise that if he and his wife both died, they wanted Donte to be first in line for considerations as someone who could adopt Charlie. He even wrote that into his will. At some point, his wife is killed by the Hebbleskin Gang. This leaves Charlie and orphaned infant. ''Ciem 2'' / Nuclear Crisis Main articles: Ciem 2, Ciem: Nuclear Crisis By this point in time, Candi and Donte are considering adopting Charlie. However, a judge rules they have to marry before the end of 2023 to get Charlie. A homosexual activist pair named Gary and Darryl, meanwhile, try to put pressure on the city to give them adoption privileges in spite of Darrin's will. The judge is considering violating the will and pandering to Gary and Darryl, but is reluctant as a new group arriving in town is threatening to lobby for his impeachment if he does so. Gary and Darryl meanwhile taunt Donte about how they intend to molest Charlie, resting assured that the judge will throw out Donte's commentary on their remarks as being "all hearsay." They begin stalking Donte around town, and even actively getting him blackballed from finding jobs. They nearly push Candi over the edge by taunting her over Denny and Angie's deaths, baselessly accusing her of being responsible. After the events of this part of the timeline, Candi and Donte are able to marry successfully and adopt Charlie. Gary and Darryl discover that it was finalized too late for them to intercept, as they were out of town encouraging terrorist attacks on pro-family groups' buildings. They try to sue to gain custody of Charlie, and have the adoption overturned. When their suit is thrown out of court, they attempt to kidnap Charlie outright. The kidnapping is thwarted by Extirpon, who has no mercy on them. ''Ciem 3'' / Condemnation '' and Ciem: Condemnation.]] Charlie is about ready to enter kindergarten when the scourge of Milp arrives in town. Donte, having lost the last of his abilities as Emeraldon, goes to visit Darius Philippine for cancer treatment. He takes Frank with him, and leaves Charlie behind with Candi. Milp uses an elaborate strategy to get Ciem distracted, then attacks Charlie. She makes sure to keep him alive, but murders the babysitter. She puts some of Lloyd Kolumn's plants in the hospital, who feebly try to twist Charlie's words to frame Candi for child abuse. However, Candi arrives in time and hears Charlie's rebuttal of their claims as he defends his mother's reputation. Confused social workers at the scene suddenly find themselves assaulted with tear gas as the plants set to work capturing Candi. Charlie is left in the hospital to recover from his injuries. However, Lex Philippine realizes that it is all a trap. When his father won't act to stop the upcoming disasters, Lex heads to the hospital to recover Charlie on his own. He is the first to report back that Dolly's actions led to Milp using an AI backvisor to gain control of Botan the Plant-Man. After the events in this part of the timeline, Charlie is eventually reunited with his family. They move to Kentucky to start their lives over, confident that they can finally move on after both Duke Arfaas and Lloyd Kolumn are confirmed as dead. ''Abolition'' Main article: Abolition (Gerosha Chronicles) Charlie was to appear briefly in Abolition before it was canceled. He was to be shown with Candi and Frank at home, working on schoolwork and wondering what all the fuss was about amongst the adults. ''Ciem Tomorrow'' Main article: Ciem Tomorrow By the Ciem Tomorrow timeline, Charlie had managed to take his share of money from his mother and turn it into a super-successful business. He has since become a billionaire, and has a family of his own and mansion to live in. He does try to stay somewhat under the radar and not live too extravagantly, however. He fears that the Phaletori will want his company's inventory for their evil purposes, and hires his younger brother John "Verdecent" McArthur as a glorified security guard - one that is free to leave the grounds in pursuit of thieves if necessary. He also financially backs Lex Philippine's operations in Gerosha, which includes Dana's efforts to free Gerosha from its dome. Personality While Charlie received very little development overall, he was revealed to be very optimistic child and a bright thinker. He is only shown as being fearful after being attacked by Milp. He remains fearful until after the events in Ciem 3 / Ciem: Condemnation. Afterwards, he grows up to be a man of intellect and confidence. He is even at times skillfully manipulative. However, he keeps his pride in check so as not to become like the villains he crusades against. Development Concept Feeling that Candi and Donte's lives were too trivial, the Dozerfleet founder decided to give them something to do to make them important contributors to the world around them outside of superhero work. Various experiments with gameplay led to a child Sim in Donte's family. So the Dozerfleet founder decided to have Donte adopt the child. This led to the Classic Gerosha version of Ciem 2 retconning Charlie into the story. He was little more than an additional subplot to add stress in Candi's life. Plans soon surfaced for his being attacked by Milp to be a catalyst for the plot of Ciem 3. The part about Milp using his injuries as a way to frame Candi for child abuse was inspired by The Ring Two, in which Samara possesses Aidan in order to tempt Rachel into accepting her desire to murder everyone in town and make Rachel a surrogate mother. In that movie, the town's nurses and social workers mistake Naomi Watts' character for a child abuser. When the Ciem webcomic trilogy was canceled in favor of a novel trilogy, the plot for Ciem 3 was almost verbatim copied over to Ciem: Condemnation. Both versions were later canceled in favor of Sodality in Cataclysmic Gerosha. In this version, Donte's life situation and physiological differences combine to ensure he never meets and befriends Darrin Wortell. As a result, Charlie effectively doesn't exist in that continuity. Design Much like with Tom Rintel, Charlie's design was modeled after three major inspirations. The first was David Dorfman as Aidan Keller in The Ring. The second influence for both characters' designs was the character of Charles Wallace Murry from Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, as depicted on the book's front covers for 1991 and 1996 as published by Dell Yearling.[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?7526 "A Wrinkle in Time"] (entry.) Internet Speculative Fiction Database.. The illustrator who depicted L'Engle's Charlie for that particular book cover was Jody A. Lee."Jody Lee" (entry.) Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Finally, the ''Red Planet'' miniseries adaptation that first featured on Fox Kids in 1994 had the character of PJ, whose blond hair and innocent stares became an inspiration for young Charlie McArthur and Tom Rintel alike. References See also * Ciem 2 * Ciem 3 * Ciem: Vigilante Centipede * Ciem: Nuclear Crisis * Ciem: Condemnation * Ciem Tomorrow * Candi Levens (Classic Gerosha) * Ciem * Candi Levens (Comprehensive Gerosha) * Emeraldon * Verdecent External links * Scrapped Gerosha ideas gallery at DeviantArt * Jody Lee official website ** Jody Lee bio at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Category: Ciem 2 characters Category: Ciem: Nuclear Crisis characters Category: Ciem 3 characters Category: Ciem: Condemnation characters Category: Abolition characters Category: Ciem Tomorrow characters Category:Characters